A new Edith Cavell £2 Coin?
In the wake of the furore surrounding the brand new First World War commemorative £2 featuring Lord Kitchener, a few ideas have been mooted as to who else should be included in the five-year commemorative coin series from outbreak through to armistice.
The new Kitchener £2 has been criticised for being too jingoistic
Kitchener’s famous finger pointing at the reader and his call ‘Your Country Needs You’ has been branded by critics as jingoistic and a glorification of war rather than a reflection on the sheer loss of life which occurred.
The Royal Mint has confirmed that future designs would include other figures connected with the war, but have remained tight-lipped on who these figures will be.
35,000 Signatures
Edith Cavell is amongst the most popular suggestions, and a petition with over 35,000 in signatures has added considerable weight to the case.
An artist’s impression of what an Edith Cavell £2 coin might look like
Born as the daughter of a vicar in 1865, Edith Cavell was the wartime nurse who was executed for providing care to wounded soldiers irrespective of their nationality. She, along with Belgian and French colleagues helped over 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium. She was arrested by a German military court, found guilty of ‘assisting men to the enemy’ and despite worldwide condemnation, was shot by a German firing squad on 12 October 1915.
Patriotism is not enough…
Her last words were “I realise that patriotism is not enough, I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.”
Thousands of people lined the streets for her funeral procession before she was buried at Norwich Cathedral.
Sioned-Mair Richards, the Sheffield Labour Councillor who started the petition believes Cavell was ‘simply a nurse trying to do her duty, and should be honoured by her country as a woman who was one of the best’.
Which design would you prefer to appear on this year’s £2 coin? Vote below.
If they can produce 20 plus 50p coins for the Olympic Games, surely 5 or 10 coins per year covering the WW1 centenary years is not asking too much considering all the lives lost in that war.
From what the Royal Mint has said, we expect that there will be more UK coins to follow The Lord Kitchener £2.
Why not have both?
Why do you gold plate ,a coin if a coin is silver then leave it it will sell ,if it’s gold it will sell, there was. A nice coin In the news paper the other day, ithink it was some thing do do wit the seconded world war but gold plated,I don’t think the base metal was silver that won’t sell it , if it had been silver it would have sold like hot cakes
Plus putting pictures on coins it makes them cheap engrave them but not stick on pictures
Mr Preston – thanks for your feedback. Hopefully you’ll be pleased to hear that the coins we have available for WWI are engraved base metal (which are gold-plated but not coloured) and silver coins with no plating.